USF receiving votes in first coaches poll

USF is on the radar of the first major national preseason football poll, getting 26 vote-points on the first ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Bulls have shown up on several publications' preseason rankings, including a No. 21 spot from The Sporting News.

There's still a way to go for the Bulls -- it took 209 points to get Texas A&M in the poll at No. 25. The showing makes USF an unofficial 37th in the polling -- garnering 26 points from 60 ballots translates to roughly a quarter of the voters putting the Bulls somewhere in the bottom two spots. (It could also be one crazy coach putting them second and another 24th, but we're thinking it's a handful of rankings in the 20s.)

As for the Big East, West Virginia is sixth in the coaches poll, while Louisville is 11th and Rutgers 16th. The Bulls are the only other Big East team receiving a vote.

Of USF's 12 opponents this season, eight of them have coaches that vote in this poll. Four Big East coaches -- West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez, Louisville's Steve Kragthorpe, Connecticut's Randy Edsall and Rutgers' Greg Schiano -- are on the panel this year, as well as Auburn's Tommy Tuberville, Central Florida's George O'Leary, North Carolina's Butch Davis and Florida Atlantic's Howard Schnellenberger.

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